XLIII. RICACETE: ^RCTOSTA PHYLOS. 577 



in panicles that are terminal and composed of approximate racemes. Pedi- 

 cels furnished with 3 bracteas at the base. Corolla oval, white. Filaments 

 dilated and pilose at the base. (Don's Mill.) A robust shrub or low tree. 

 Mexico, on the eastern declivities between La Plata and Xalapa. Height 

 20ft. ; in British gardens 5ft. to 10ft. Introduced in 1826. Flowers 

 white ; December. 



Other Species apparently hardy. A. speciosa Dickson, Gard. Mag. 1840, 

 p. 4. Leaves lanceolate, finely serrated, glaucous on the under side, and bright 

 green above. Probably a large bush or small tree. Mexico, 1837. Another 

 species, and also A. nepalensis Royle, have been raised in the H. S. Garden. 



GENUS XV. 



JRCTOSTA'PHYLOS Adans. THE BEARBERRY. Lin. Si/st. Decandria 



Monogynia. 



Identification. Adans. Fam. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 835. 

 Synonymes. U N va-ursi Dod., Tourn. ; ^4'rbutus sp. Lin. 

 Derivation. From arktos, a bear, and staphule, a grape. 



Gen. Char. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla globose or ovate- campanulate; limb 

 5-cIeft, reflexed. Stamens 10, enclosed ; filaments dilated at the base, and 

 pilose. Anthers compressed at the sides, dehiscing by two pores at the 

 apex, fixed by the back beneath the middle, where they are furnished with 

 two reflexed horns. Ovarium seated on the hypogynous disk, or half- 

 immersed in it, usually 5-celled, rarely 6 9-celled ; cells 1-seeded. Styles 1. 

 Stigma obtuse. Drupe nearly globose. (Don's Mill.) 



Leaves simple, alte nate, exstipulate, evergreen or deciduous ; entire 

 or serrated. Flowers in terminal racemes, pedicellate bracteate. Corollas 

 white or flesh-coloured. Drupes red or black. Shrubs or subshrubs, 

 deciduous or evergreen, low or trailing ; natives of Europe or America. 

 *~ 1. A. UVA-U'RSI Spreng. The common Bearberry. 



Identification. Spreng. Syst., 2. p. 827. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 835.- 



Synonymes. //'rbutus UVa-ursi Lin. Sp. 566. ; ,4'rbutus Auxifblia Stokes Sot. 509. ; TTva-tirsi 

 fiuxifolia Sal. in Gray's Arr. 2. p. 400. ; Bearberries, and Bear-whortleberries, Eng. ; Baren- 

 traube, or Barenbeere, Ger. ; Beerenduuif, Dutch; la Basserole, Fr. ; Uva d'Orzo, Ital.; Uva 

 de Oso, Span. ; Uva de Urso, Port. ; and Uva Ursi in the works of most old botanists. 



Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 714. ; Schmidt Baum., t. 138.; and our^g. 1087. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Stems procumbent. Leaves per- 

 manent, obovate, quite entire, coriaceous, shining, 

 resembling those of the common box. Flowers 

 fasciculate ; pale red, or white with a red mouth ; 

 growing in small clusters at the extremities of 

 the branches. Drupe 5-celled. (Don's Mill.) 

 A trailing evergreen shrub. Canada and New 

 England in rocky situations, and in the Island of 

 Unalascha ; also in the middle of Europe ; and 

 upon dry heathy mountains throughout the High- 

 lands and Western Isles of Scotland. Height 1 ft. ; 

 trailing stems 2 ft. to 4 ft. Flowers pale red ; May and June. Berries 

 red ; ripe in September. 



Variety. 



u A. U. 2 austriaca Lodd. Leaves somewhat larger than those of 

 the species. 



The berries are filled with an austere mealy pulp, and serve as food for 

 grouse and other birds in Britain ; and in Sweden, Russia, and America, they 

 form a principal part of the food of bears. The whole plant is powerfully 

 astringent : it abounds in the tannin principle ; and, both in Sweden and 



